Products November 19, 2010

Consultant Designs ‘New’ 401(k)

November 19, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Nyhart, an Indianapolis-based independent actuarial and employee benefits consulting firm, announced what it calls standards for the Next Generation 401(k).
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A news release said the new retirement benefit transforms how current, outdated 401(k) benefits are structured and “addresses the many flaws and problems exposed during the recent economic downturn.”

The company said its senior actuaries and retirement benefit advisers spent six months researching and analyzing issues with current 401(k) plans. “The research revealed how the traditional approach to 401(k) fails to provide options that affect retirement: employee contribution rates and the funds being offered,” the news release said.

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Highlights include, according to the announcement:

  • Employees receive education to understand how their contribution impacts their retirement age,
  • Exclusive use of low-cost funds provides maximum retirement balance impact and avoids unnecessary fees and costs,
  • Custom target-date portfolios shift funds into investment channels that minimize risk based on age, not just investment-type, limiting recessionary dips,
  • Integrated single-source administration and education services lower overall costs for employers,
  • “Extensive” fiduciary protection mitigates risk for the employer and their investment committee.

More information is at www.nyhart.com or by calling (317) 845-3500.

Compliance November 19, 2010

Savings Plan Embezzler Indicted

November 19, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A federal indictment unsealed this week in the District of Minnesota alleges that a 62-year-old New Prague, Minnesota man embezzled approximately $642,166 from his company’s employee benefit plan.

 

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The indictment charges Delroy Joseph Sand, Jr., with one count of embezzlement and theft from an employee benefit plan, and also charges him with one count of failure to file a required report and one count of obstruction of agency proceedings. The indictment was unsealed following Sand’s initial appearance in federal court, according to a press release from the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.

The indictment states that from February of 2008 through September of 2009, Sand was the trustee for the employees’ retirement savings plan at Hecla, Inc., a business that provides adult foster care as well as group home and mental health services in Minnesota. The company benefit plan was established in 1985, and under law, an annual financial report regarding the plan must be filed with the federal government.

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Sand, however, allegedly failed to file the financial report for 2008, according to the press release, and he purportedly stole money from the plan.  Then, in October of 2009, he obstructed an examination of the plan by the United States Department of Labor. Specifically, the indictment states he failed to provide documentation necessary for the examination and, instead, offered false information throughout the review process.

If convicted, Sand faces a potential maximum penalty of ten years in prison on the failure to file a required report charge and five years each for embezzlement and obstruction of proceedings. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.

This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor – Employee Benefits Security Administration, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Otteson.

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